It was down to Aston Villa Women to raise the spirits of North Birmingham this weekend, as they took on Tottenham Hotspur away from home.
Villa looked to build on the positive ending to last week’s draw against Reading and continue their impressive away form. Carla Ward made a single change from last weekend, switching out Jill Scott for Ruesha Littlejohn in the midfield.
Spurs were predictably competitive as they hoped to complete the double over Aston Villa and finish the season on a high, after recently slipping from third to fifth in the table.
With little left to play for this season, compared to Spurs still clinging onto Champions League dreams, Villa surprised their opponents by setting a fighting tempo from the first whistle. The Villans looked on top for the first ten minutes, but were limited to a long-range effort from Littlejohn that sailed wide.
Tottenham grew into the game and the match became cagey. Hannah Hampton was called upon a couple of times, but neither side had any clear-cut chances. The closest came in the form of a Spurs free kick, which was whipped into the box and beat the Villa defence but was fortunately out of reach for Ashley Neville to hit home.
The sides went into the break level, which was an accurate reflection of the game.
The second half was more of the same and Ward looked to change things up at around the hour mark. She removed Lehmann for Chloe Arthur, a player with a point to prove after losing her place in the starting XI this season and this was clear in her performance.
More enforcements came in the form of Jill Scott and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah. The changes were refreshing and gave Villa the lift they needed to make the most of a determined team performance.
It wasn’t until the 87th minute that either side could capitalise, and it was a group effort that took Villa over the line. A cross from Jill Scott was kept alive as it was cleared to Maz Pacheco, who sent the ball back into the area. It met Rachel Corsie, who was able to nod the ball on into the path of Ramona Petzelberger at the back post and her headed shot had too much height for Spencer in goal.
It was a nervous home stretch until the final whistle, as Tottenham won a corner in the fifth minute of injury time. Bodies were on the line and the ball was finally cleared as time ran out for Spurs, giving Villa their fifth victory on the road, and sixth in total.
A strong-willed team battle was rewarded with a late winner, an impressive showing against this season’s dark horse of the WSL. We close the weekend in ninth position and with 20 points on the board – 5 more than last season’s total. It is a well-earned boost before the international break, and Villa return to action, before a couple of difficult fixtures against Arsenal and Manchester United at the end of the month.
Georgia.
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Author’s UTV PODCAST archive Georgia Homer – Head of WSL content
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